I will admit, I arrived at the Institute today without having looked at the agenda, which means my reaction to "Writing Marathon" was a little less than enthusiastic. Not because I don't love writing, or walking, or getting to know new people. Those are not the aspects of the Writing Marathon that make me sweat, pun intended.
No, my trepidation comes from my complete and utter lack of navigational skills. My sense of direction is limited to "up" and "down" or "here" to "there" - those prepositions that don't really help when it comes to getting places.
But, as I spent the morning secretly dreading the upcoming activity and contemplating who I could pair up with to help me make my way through Plymouth, a thought occurred to me: we do our best learning together.
Recently the returning fellows read an article by Vygotsky on the Zone of Proximal Development where he discusses the idea that there are things that people can do independently, and things they can do with assistance or in groups. This is the Zone of Proximal Development. We can and do learn best when we are with others who can help us achieve our goals.
This is the thought I took with me as my group stepped into the bright sunlight of Plymouth. All of us new and unfamiliar with town. There was a bit of meandering, perhaps following behind other groups as a guide, but we eventually found our way. We stopped at the museum, a small park, the church, and the ice cream shop. We wrote, we shared, and we learned about each other. We asked questions, we smiled, and we managed to find our way back to Rounds Hall without getting lost. Success.
Although I started the morning feeling apprehensive and unsure, I ended knowing that I learned something new. Together, with my group mates, I made my way around an unfamiliar place and didn't have an anxiety attack or end up needing to call my step Dad for directions.
The institute challenges its participants to push boundaries and think more deeply about teaching. The heart of it happens in the community we build together: teachers teaching teachers. This, NWPNH, is our Zone of Proximal Development.
Nice post. Who wrote this?
ReplyDelete